Best of Bootie 2008

Since 2005, San Francisco-based mashup DJs and Bootie (the party) pioneers Adrian and the Mysterious D (aka A+D) have compiled their favorite mashups of the previous year into a must-have selection of that year's hits. If there is one bastard-pop album to be had (though since they're almost always free, you should really have them all) each annum, this would probably be it.

(click on the photo to go to the Bootie site)

Residents of any of the cities where Bootie events go down will likely be pretty familiar with the tunes, which are mainly composed of this year's pop sensations combined with yesteryear's funkiest or best-known tracks. These come off the dancefloors and onto wax in Best of Bootie 2008.

Some of the more obvious entries include the A+B mash of The Police's "Roxanne" and The Bee Gees' "You Should be Dancing", by DJ Zebra, and the tongue-literally-poking-through-the-cheek irony of Divide & Kreate's "Until It Talks", a combination of Coldplay and Metallica tracks.

But the award for creativity most definitely goes to SF's DJ Earworm, who mixes not two, not five, but sixteen different artists (Rihanna vs. Kardinal Offishall vs. Akon vs. Ne-Yo vs. Estelle vs. Pussycat Dolls vs. Leona Lewis vs. Danity Kane vs. Madonna vs. Timbaland vs. Justin Timberlake vs. Lupe Fiasco vs. Matthew Santos vs. Britney Spears vs. Flo-Rida vs. T-Pain) to create "No More Gas". Bordering dangerously on the Girltalk-dominated sub-genre (or is it a completely new one?) of extreme mashups, this is a whole bunch of song fragments, choruses and other bits that somehow got stuck in your head over the year. No need to go back to all those (mostly) bad originals, now you have them all in one track! It's like a "Best of" list all in itself.

Anyway, as always with the Bootie compilations, this one is pre-mixed for your continuous listening and dancing pleasure. Many thanks to A+D for keeping the Bootie series going and here's looking forward to a mash-terful 2009.

Holiday Videos 5: High Tides and Blocked Peace Pipes

Well it seems that this is turning into more like a "holiday mashup videos" series, most (if not all - we'll have to see what Santa brings on the 25th) coming from the oft-mentioned album Santastic Vol. 4.

Our latest installment features a mashup by Go Home Productions, with music by Blondie, Paul McCartney and Jennifer Lopez. It's simple and sweet, like any Christmas song should be, and the video flows very well, starting with a clip from "Miracle on 34th Street", where Santa winkingly informs a kid that yes, it's really him. Aptly chosen for a mashup indeed.

Here's the video:

Holiday Videos 3: Box of Delights vs. Voicedude

Today we have another video mashup by DJNoNo, this one as a remix/response to a more conventional mashup video made from the aforementioned Santastic Vol. 4. No drum 'n' bass this time, just the Trans Siberian Orchestra and Blink 182. It's altar boy choirs with whiny pop-punk acapella by the Blink boys over holiday movie clips galore!



No, irony is not dead!

Holiday Videos 1: DJNoNo - Scarey Xmas

In the spirit of the holidays, we're presenting a daily-dose of holiday-themed videos from 2008. Our first entry comes as a video mashup by the British DJNoNo, a.k.a. Tim Bear Cub of Radioclash fame. The song itself comes from the excellent Santastic Vol. 4, an annual Christmas-themed mashup album, which I believe is compiled by Boston-based taste-shaper DJ BC.



The video features a mashup of Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas is You" and Dillinja & Unknown Error plus a few odds and ends. At last, a Christmas song we can rave to!

Bert and Ernie vs. M.O.P.

DJ NoNo a.k.a. Tim over at Radioclash is a big muppets fan, and also, I assume, a fan of the Sesame Street puppets, created by Jim Henson. He recently posted a few of his favorite kids' show/gangsta rap video mashups, which came from this larger selection, most of which are not very good (though the Sponge Bob/Eminem one is pretty good). This one, however, is excellent - Bert and Ernie's mouth movements mimic the rapping quite well, and the actions seem to mimic rapper body language well. Also, I just like M.O.P. more than any of the other artists. Peep it for yourself:



Ante up, indeed. On some further looking (i.e. in the comments section of that 12-best list) this seems to be a pretty fleshed-out meme. What are your favorites? Tell us in the comments.

More Holiday Mash-Ups Than You Ever Knew Existed

Santastic is the best series of compilations of Christmas and holiday-themed mashups I've come across. Spanning the range of late-fall/early-winter holidays (meaning Christmas, Hanukkah, and probably Kwanzaa), and with song titles like "Rudolph the Paranoid Reindeer" (Santastic II), "Frosty DMC" (Santastic I) and "Xmasploitation" (Santastic IV), you are bound to gin up that holiday cheer, even if you hate this time of year (like I do).

Rear-Projected Touchscreen Mashup Hacking

Oh my word, this has got to be the coolest thing ever: a demo of a touchscreen mashup-creation system pioneered and displayed at parties by the Evolution Control Committee. Doesn't seeing this just make you want to check out a mashup party?



Snagged via the always-wonderful BoingBoing.

What!?! Ok!

This is just ridiculous...

Jane Fonda's Mr. Right is Mickey Avalon

So, not being the LA socialite that one must be to keep up with the rich-and-pretty kids these days (Blue Sky? :), I've only come onto Mickey Avalon in the last few weeks. Basically, what began as a joke with friends (who happened to be in the band Whitestarr) has now turned into a joke with a website and some very catchy tunes.

Exhibit A: "My Dick" (fan video)


Avalon himself has certainly lived a lot of life, having gone from heroin-fiend to male prostitute to rapper VIP in the LA club scene, and his irreverent lyrics poke fun at life while at the same time referencing many of the darkest places he's been. According to the Wikipedia entry, he's released two albums and a mixtape, as well as toured internationally, though this last part can probably be construed to mean "played shows with friends at LA-scenester-acceptable venues". For now, I think we'll stick to the lighter side of the repertoire.

Exhibit B: Jane Fonda


Bonus exhibit: "My Dick" was mashed with The Commodores "Brick House", with the result being chosen as a November "Top 10 Mashup of the Month" over at the Bootie Blog. Direct mp3 link here.

Mashing it Up

I know they've been around forever, but recently I've discovered the wonderful world of mash-ups. I'd heard of remixes, medleys, and samples, but I had never really come across the strict genre/world of mash-ups. 

For those who don't know what a mash-up is, it's basically the combination of various tracks from various pieces of music all placed together to create a new song. Sometimes additional audio elements are thrown in to make the track more seamless, such as additional percussion or synth tracks. An example would be taking beats from Daft Punk's "Da Funk" and adding in the vocals from Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" (making "Another One Bites Da Funk").  If you're still a bit fuzzy here is an excellent video giving a brief demonstration. 

After scanning some mash-ups I've found some can be playful and fun, others transcendental, and even more just plain awful. Some of my favorite mash-up artists include Party Ben, Norwegian Recycling, and DJ Earworm. And a great catch all source is a neat little website called "Mash-up Town". 

Overall I love the concept. I love finding music that opens up my mind, and I've found this subculture has definitely done that. And plus who doesn't love hybrid song titles like "Drop It Like It's a Whole Lotta Love", "Shut Up, American Boy", and  Sweet Mama O'Mine". Check out and support your local mash-up artists, you'll hear music in a whole new way, I promise.